


Winter Night

by gally_hin



Series: Ad Vitam Aeternam [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Art, Fanart, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21837637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gally_hin/pseuds/gally_hin
Summary: It was a cold winter evening at Amity Park. The streets were full of children sound and happy families busy by Christmas shopping.Arms were full of neatly wrapped presents in colorful paper while steps were marking the fresh white snow
Relationships: Maddie the Cat & Vlad Masters
Series: Ad Vitam Aeternam [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573435
Comments: 11
Kudos: 157





	Winter Night

**Author's Note:**

> I did not own Danny Phantom, if that was the case Maddie the cat would still be a cute cat and not a stereotype villain’s cat
> 
> English isn’t my first language and I haven’t write fanfics for years so I’m very sorry if there’re any mismatch or misspellings (feel free to tell me if I make any mistakes so I could correct it)  
> Plus I’m first an artist before being a writer but at least you could enjoy some rough illustrations :p
> 
> Actively searching a beta-reader

It was a cold winter evening at Amity Park. The streets were full of children's sound and happy families busy with Christmas shopping. Arms were full of neatly wrapped presents in colorful paper while steps were marking the fresh white snow.

Tonight, Vlad had dinner with business associates in a way too expensive and pompous french restaurant. 

The rich bachelor didn’t like wasting his precious time with those pretentious old farts, who didn't even knew the price of a single piece of bread or where their milk came from, but he needed to talk about an important contract so he will have to bit his snarky tongue and keep his mouth shut. Years of business and partnerships (sometimes low bows and backstabbing) taught him how to take care of his image, to gain more money, to gain more power, but some days he wondered for what. This night was one of these days.

Vlad watched the dense crowds by his limousine’s window. He may be one of the richest man of this world, and one of the most powerful entity of the ghost zone but each Christmas reminds him that he also might be the loneliest soul.  
Money can’t make you happy, it could buy materials for his laboratory (or silly Parker's stuffs), it could buy time for his research but it can’t buy hearts and minds.   
In love he was a beggar.

He went out of his car to walk for a bit, asking his private driver to meet him after the dinner. He accidentally collided with a woman and her unstable gifts tower. He helped her pick up her precious boxes, giving her a charming smile. She blushed. Behind, her husband displayed an unpleased jealous face. Vlad gave him a charming smile too. The man blushed hard and hid under his hat. The couple thanked him and went away while trying to keep their walks balanced.

Vlad didn't have shopping to make, he didn't have somebody to spoil and spend Christmas with. Every outrageously expensive presents to business partners were taken care of by his trustworthy secretary (he made a mental note to remember raising her pay and gave her a box of ‘macarons’(1) ).   
Vlad wondered if he should buy something for the Fenton family, something more personal. Last year Daniel wasn't fond of the money he received and sent it straight back to Wisconsin with an angry Christmas card but nothing came to Vlad's mind beside cars, travels or jewelry; things that the Fentons didn't need. He sadly realized that despite his spying and the forced visits (that he mainly kept doing to annoy the young halfa) he hardly knew them at all.

Vlad exhaled, the only one who sincerely loved him was gone. At first, he was angry and hateful, even resentful, but then after giving him some time to think he knew that he had made a huge _mistake_.   
All he wanted was love, someone to call a family but all he was only able to do was to repulse people he cares about or push away people who truly cares about him. Because he didn't understand and know how to show love or affection, even if he starved it, like a fish asking for water, or a plant for light.  
Thinking about it now makes him even more guilty and sick. It was always his fault...

Lost in his thoughts, Vlad arrived at the restaurant sooner than he wished. The establishment was named ‘C _hez Ma Sœur_ ’(2), he sneered wondering which sister cooked five stars meals and served it on silver plates.

The old ghost sighed hard and looked on his wrist, at his father's watch. He still had fifteen minutes to waste and despite his fire core asking him to quickly go to a warmer place, he didn't want to.

Suddenly he heard a sound, small but audible. He looked down. A white cat was curled on a dirty piece of cardboard, right under the stairs of the restaurant. It seemed so frail and weak; the little thing was almost invisible because of its fur.   
The painting was truly ironic, a dirty stray cat in front of a starred restaurant.

Vlad isn't the kind of businessman to be moved by a sad scenery, he didn't show pity either, after all that how he was able to climb so high.  
In this noisy street someone else will take it, it was Christmas after all and people liked cats. He didn't. With the loss and destruction of his parents' dairy farm, he distanced himself from animals. 

Remembering bitter memories his heart twisted in his chest. It wasn’t his problem…  
And without looking back, he climbed the stairs.

**xxx**

After three hours of chatting, Vlad left the restaurant with the satisfaction of having successfully completed his contract.

He was able to forget it during his diner but now that he was once again outside at the bottom of the stairs, the white shadow was haunting him. He looked down, hoping to not see it.   
The cat was still there, curled, but it was no longer meowing.

The street was still busy but much less now. He looked at his watch, it was 10:50 p.m.   
He looked at the street, then looked at the creature. The wind was cold and bit his skin. He sighed and got into his black limousine before closing the door behind him. It wasn’t his problem…  
The engine started and the car moved slowly into the night.

The sky was dark. In big cities it was impossible to see stars, they were chased by traffic lights, lampposts or like now by bright Christmas decorations. Since he moved to Amity Park, that's what he missed the most, stargazing and forgetting. Strangely, in the dense city he was lonelier than ever.

The old ghost watched the remaining people rushing back to their homes, marking their way on the white blanket. The river was calm, lights were reflecting beautifully on its surface.  
It was starting to snow again.

“Driver, turn back.”

**Author's Note:**

> (1) French macaroons: sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and food coloring (wikipedia)  
> (2) At my sister's house
> 
> xxx
> 
> Background base on a screencap of the episode “The Fright Before Christmas”
> 
> I finish the fic here because it’s sound better  
> But to extend the story, he brings it back to his home and plan to give the cat the next day to some random shelter  
> While feeding the cat some can tuna, and as a man who’s craving warm and touch, he unconsciously tries to pet it  
> The cat was frightened at first, but sniffs him and rubs its head against Vlad’s palm, thankful  
> At this moment Vlad’s heart melts so he decides to keep it
> 
> At first he didn’t plan to name the cat ‘Maddie’  
> But when, one week later, Daniel (who was sneaking around) exposes him with the cat on his laps, he impulsively do it to annoy the young halfa
> 
> As a former stray cat, Maddie is very distrustful of strangers and sometimes aggressive, but give her time and she is very affectionate  
> Otherwise she is a standard cat who likes to play, knock things over, meow behind the bathroom’s door, steal food from Vlad’s plate and sleep above his pillow at night  
> She really enjoys cuddling against Vlad’s chest near his fire core and loves him more than anyone else
> 
> Meanwhile Vlad is too proud to confess it, but he loves his cat with all his heart


End file.
